Fallout: 251
by Cru-Say
Summary: On October 23, 2077 a plane heading for Chicago is caught above a nuclear firestorm. The plane and it's crew manage to survive both the explosion and the EMP, but the world they land in is not the same one that they took off in. Does this small group of survivors have what it takes to survive in this strange new world?
1. Chapter 1: Before the Fallout

Property of Captain Michael C. Johnson

October 22,2077

Tomorrow I will be flying back home to Chicago. I am piloting Skylines Flight 251 with a newly trained co-pilot Joseph Grands. He is a nice fellow, although he is a bit nervous for his first actual flight. I told him not to worry. He was top of his class and I am sure he will do fine. Our flight tomorrow is just cargo hauling but there are a few passengers on board. I have heard rumors that our cargo contains military and Vault Tec equipment. They won't tell me for but whatever we are transporting has to be important. They have a active sentry bot guarding the cargo hold. I don't really care much about the cargo though. All I want to do is get back home to Sharrol, Kevin, and Rocky. Unfortunately Sara is still at her college so she won't be home. It has been two weeks since I left and I can't wait to see them again. Mike Johnson signing off.

* * *

"Attention passengers. Your captain today is Captain Michael C. Johnson. We are on route from Boston's Logan Airport to Chicago's O'Hare International airport. We are expected to arrive early tomorrow morning. The weather looks clear and we have a smooth flight. Have a nice flight and thank you for flying Skylines Airlines."

Captain Mike Johnson put down the cockpit intercom and leaned back in his chair. His co-pilot Joe Grands sat next to him. Mike noticed that Joe looked nervous. Mike turned to him and asked if he was okay.

"It's nothing. I'm just worried that I will mess up my first flight" said Joe. Mike smiled.

"Joe, you will do fine. Here, drink some Nuka Cola. I find that that helps to calm my nerves."

A light flashed on the airplane control panel.

"Skylines flight 251 this is Logan Airport do you copy?"

"We copy, over."

"Skylines flight 251 you are clear for takeoff. You may move to runway 24."

* * *

Not long after the plane took off. Mike, Joe, and the rest of the passengers relaxed, not knowing that when they landed the world they knew would be gone forever.


	2. Chapter 2: The Fallout

Skylines Flight 251

Cockpit Audio Record Transcript

October 23, 2077

Begin Recording

Captain Michael Johnson:(Through Intercom) Attention Passengers, we will be arriving at O'Hare International Airport in 15 minutes. Please fasten your seatbelts as we prepare for landing.

Captain Michael Johnson: Joseph, prepare the landing gear.

Co-Pilot Joseph Grands: Yes sir.

Captain Michael Johnson: See Joseph, nothing to worry about. You did fine.

Co-Pilot Joseph Grands: Thanks. I feel much more confident now. Is it this calm during every fli- What's that over there?

(Sound of a explosion is heard)

Captain Michael Johnson: AHH I CAN'T SEE! THE LIGHT IS TOO BRIGHT!

Co-Pilot Joseph Grands: SHIELD YOUR EYES!

Captain Michael Johnson: The flash is over. You can uncover your… Oh My God.

Co-Pilot Joseph Grands: Is that… a mushroom cloud?

Captain Michael Johnson: Dear God, the rReds actually did it. They actually fucking nuked us.

(Sound of Alarms)

Co-Pilot Joseph Grands: We have lost power in jet engine 1, 2, 4, and 6.

Captain Michael Johnson: Quickly extend landing gear! - This is Skylines flight 251 to O'Hare International Airport, do you copy? We are losing power fast! Mayday! Do you read? I repeat we are losing power! Do you copy?

Co-Pilot Joseph Grands: We have lost power in wing 1! I am switching to manual control.

Captain Michael Johnson: O'Hare airport we are losing altitude! Do you copy!? - Screw it! They aren't responding.

Co-Pilot Joseph Grands: I see the airport! Look over there, an open runway.

Captain Michael Johnson: Aim for the runway! Brace for impact!

END OF RECORDING

"Aim for the runway! Brace for impact!"

The plane was approaching the ground. Thinking quickly, Mike pulled up, bringing the plane to a leveled position. However the plane was still going too fast. Joe suddenly got out of his chair and out of the cockpit. Mike struggled to keep control of the plane when suddenly the plane slowed drastically. The plane was still moving quickly, but now there was a chance that it would land safely. The plane hit the ground with a violent bump and flew across the runway. Mike gripped the controls tight, struggling against the force. The plane finally slowed to a stop as the runway ended. Mike sat back and caught his breath but his relief didn't last long. He looked out the window and a hellish sight met his eyes.

The world around the plane was burning. Ash filled the sky and bodies littered the ground. Mike stared out into the hellish landscape before him. His mind raced with thoughts and questions. Why did this happen? Did his family make it to the shelter in time? What about his daughter Sara in Los Angeles? What now?

His thoughts were broken by the cockpit door opening. Joe limped inside and collapsed onto the chair. He had several bruises and was bleeding.

"Joe, did you deploy the emergency parachutes? You saved our lives."

Joe nodded before passing out. His bleeding worsened. Mike picked him up and carried him out of the cockpit. The passengers of the plane were all in shock. One of the flight attendants saw Mike and quickly recovered. She ran and got a first aid kit. They were wrapping Joe in a bandage when one of the passengers came up to them.

"Let me do it. I am an army paramedic."

Mike moved over as the man administered aid. He gathered up his crew and had a quick meeting. He ordered the crew to gather up the passengers and bring them to the cargo hold. Then he climbed down into the cargo hold to speak with the military guards who had been watching the military cargo.

The guards were in just as much shock as the rest of the passengers. Because they had not been seated they looked as if they had been thrown around quite a bit. Fortunately they did not look to be seriously hurt. Mike went over the the man in charge, Sgt. Jeff Encland. He asked the guard to deactivate the sentry bot and to open the cargo hold. The Sgt. refused to let them into the main cargo hold but allowed them into secondary hold. A couple minutes later the all the passengers and crew were inside.

All together there were seventy-two people. Most only suffered minor injuries but five people had broken bones. Mike stood up on a crate and addressed the crowd.

"As you all know, the nuclear holocaust has come. Now I don't know if we are the only survivors, but one thing I know for sure is that we have to work together. The first thing we have to do is see if anyone here has skills that could help us survive. Please step forward if you qualify as such."

The military passengers and several civilian passengers stepped forward. Most of them were trained with weapons and survival skills and there were a few people with medical training. Mike discussed the best plan of action with them.

The Sergeant gave his opinion.

"I believe that the best course of action would be to stay on the plane until the military comes."

One of the other soldiers, Cpl. Augustus Wright scoffed. "Do you really think the government is still out there? And even if they were why would they come help us."

The Sgt. glared at him but did not say anything. Then a woman wearing a vault-tec lab coat spoke.

"We cannot stay on this plane. If we stay out here much longer we will all die from the radiation."

This statement brought a few nervous looks from the passengers who overheard.

"What do you suppose we do?" asked Mike. Another vault-tec scientist checked something on his pip-boy.

"According to the vault-tec database there is a vault right under O'Hare International, Vault 287. If we can find a way to get there safely we might be able to convince the vault dwellers to let us in".

"But now we have to figure out how to get to the vault without dieing." Cpl. Wright spoke up.

"One of the cargo shipments in the main hold contains a crate of radiation suits. But there is not enough for everyone to use at once". Sgt. Encland looked furious at this suggestion.

"That cargo is the property of the United States government! We are under orders not to let any non military personal touch that shipment! I will not allow anyone near those crates!"

"Our job as soldiers is to protect the citizens of the United States! These people are more important than our orders! We will get those suits!" Cpl. Wright shouted back.

The two soldiers started an intense argument. The argument would have gotten physical had the other soldiers not intervened.

"Lets all calm down" said Mike. He turned to the Sgt. "I know that you have orders. But this is a desperate situation. If we want to live we need those suits". The Sgt. reluctantly agreed to let them use the suits. Cpl. Wright went to talk to the sentry bot that was guarding the hold.

"Sentry bot unit 0095178, scan all nearby persons and allow authorization." The robot looked around the cargo hold.

"Error. Non military persons detected. Command against Protocol 5b."

"Override Protocol 5b. Authorization code 96X001."

"Authorization code 96X001 confirmed. Scanning… identities saved. Authorization granted. Returning to normal patrol". The sentry bot moved away from the door. Cpl. Wright checked the inventory roster.

"Here it is crate 3a and 3b. Someone help me lift this." Wright, Mike, and the male vault tec scientist lifted the crate off the shelf and set it on the ground. They opened the container. Inside were thirty radiation suits. The helmets were in the other crate. However there was a problem. There were about seventy passengers but only thirty suits. They would have to go out in groups then send someone else back with the rest of the suits. They decided that the group that would open the vault would consist of Mike, all of the soldiers except for Sgt. Encland (who stayed to guard the cargo), the two Vault-Tec scientists, any injured passengers that needed to be taken to a safer location, and the sentry bot.

The plan was to try and convince the vault residents to let them in. If that failed they could use the Pip-Boys on the scientists to open the door. After they were suited up they sent the passengers up to the main cabin. They sealed the inner door as best they could. Hopefully it would keep out most of the radiation. Everyone was nervous as they stood by the cargo door. Mike pulled a lever, opening the cargo door.

Even through their radiation suits they could feel the scorching heat left by the blast. Harsh winds pushed at them as they made their way to the remains of the main building. Despite the ash clouding their visions the group made it to the building.

The airport terminal was in ruins. The glass ceiling had been shattered and there was rubble everywhere. Charred bones and ash was all that remained of the large crowd. According to the Vault-Tec scientist's Pip-Boy Vault 287 was in a man made cave underneath the terminal. However the power was out so none of the elevators were working and many of the stairways had also collapsed. The group would have to find their own way down. As they walked through the ruined hallways they heard banging coming from a maintenance closet. Cautiously Cpl. Wright and two soldiers approached the door as the rest of the group kept searching up ahead.

"Who's there?" He asked. A girl's voice weakly responded.

"Please, help me. I hid in here when the sirens went off but now I am trapped and I am starting to feel sick. Please, I don't want to die here."

"Alright, we will get you out. But don't try anything." He tried to open the door but the lock seemed to have fused together. He took out his pistol and pressed it up to the lock.

"Get back from the door. I'm going to shoot the lock." He shot and the doors fell open. The girl was pressed up into the corner of the maintenance closet. She looked to be about nineteen years old. The girl was almost in tears at the sight of her rescuers.

"Thank you so much. I thought I was going to die in there!"

"How did you end up in there?" asked Cpl. Wright.

"My name is Sara Johnson. I was visiting home from college and wanted to surprise my father when he returned from his trip. He was a pilot for Skylines. When the sirens went off I panicked and hid in the closet. I think the concrete walls and the metal door protected me from the explosion but I am starting to feel sick. I think I have radiation poisoning." Cpl. Wright suddenly got a surprised expression.

"Did you say your last name was Johnson? Your father works for Skylines?" Sara nodded but then passed out. Quickly Wright ordered one of the other soldiers to bring the rest of the group back. He began to administer aid. Not long afterwards he heard the rest of the group running back to them. Captain Mike ran to the front then stopped in shock.

"Sara! Oh my God!" He kneeled down next to her.

"You know her?" Wright asked.

"She is my daughter" Mike replied, his face filled with tears of joy. "How did you find her?"

"I will have to explain later. Right now she needs medical attention. Johnson do you have the aid kit?" The medic who patched up Joe before stepped forward with a first aid kit. He knelt down and studied Sara.

"She has radiation poisoning. Quickly someone get me a radaway from the kit." He administered the radaway and also gave her some rad-x. After a few minutes she groaned. The medic got up.

"She is stable but we need to get her to that vault quickly." Another one of the group spoke up.

"I think we found a way to the basement. Follow me." The group, now with Mike carrying his daughter, made their way to an unblocked staircase. They left the sentry bot to stand guard and went down into the basement. After navigating through a few tunnels the group made it into a man made underground cavern. In the wall was the massive vault door. A vault-tec scientist went over to the control panel in front of the door and plugged her pip-boy in. A voice came through the intercom.

"This is vault 287 security. We cannot let anyone in under the orders of vault-tec. Leave now or we will activate the external security turrets."

"This is Vault-Tec corporate senior science officer Samantha Hents to Vault 287. I am with a group of survivors and we need immediate shelter. Please open the door."

"That is a negative. This is your last warning, leave now."

Samantha sighed. "Corporal Wright, have your men ready their weapons. It looks like we have to take this vault by force." The Corporal turned to the soldiers.

"Ready your weapons. Aim to injure, not kill." Then he turned to Samantha. "Open the vault."

Samantha plugged in her Pip-Boy to the controls and inserted a holotape. The holotape displayed a message on the screen.

VAULT TEC VAULT SYSTEM OVERRIDE CONTROL

AUTHORIZED USERS ONLY

UNAUTHORIZED USE WILL RESULT IN SEVERE PUNISHMENT

WARNING: USAGE OF SYSTEM OVERRIDE CONTROLS COULD RESULT IN FAILURE OF VAULT EXPERIMENT. USE AT OWN RISK.

CONTROL MENU:

VAULT DOOR CONTROL

AUTOMATED TURRET CONTROL

POWER SYSTEMS CONTROL

WATER SYSTEMS CONTROL

Samantha disabled the turrets then opened the door. The massive vault door slowly opened. While the door was still opening the soldiers jumped down into the lower maintenance area. They stormed the door chamber and in minutes the door chamber was under their control.


	3. Chapter 3: Entering Vault 287

SKYLINES FLIGHT 251 PASSENGER MANIFEST

CREW:

CAPTAIN MICHAEL C. JOHNSON

FIRST OFFICER JOSEPH H. GRANDS

SECOND OFFICER IAN MIKEN

FLIGHT ATTENDANTS- KIRA WU, MISHA KUN, BRITNEY EVANS, EMILY JEFFERSON, EVA LYNN, MARGARET BROX, TINA LINCOWSKI

ROBOT CREW:

AIRLINE CREW: RODNEY(MISTER HANDY), LINDA(MISS NANNY), GEARHEAD(MISTER HANDY)

MILITARY CREW: UNIT 0095178(SENTRY BOT)

MILITARY: SERGEANT JEFF ENCLAND, CORPORAL AUGUSTUS WRIGHT, MEDIC JAMES BONES, PRIVATE LUKE MENDELSSOHN, PRIVATE LEARY O'NEIL, PRIVATE KEVIN WASHINGTON, PRIVATE JENNIFER LEVIN, PRIVATE LAUREN KENA

FIRST CLASS: JOLIE O'NEIL, MYRTLE FOSTER, JACQUELINE JOHANSEN, SUMIKO SPEARS, ALISIA AALDENBERG, SERGE NIKOLAJSEN, ASHLING SIMPKIN, RASCHELLE YI, HIROSHI YI, HEMMING FAURE, DR. SAMANTHA HENTS (VAULT-TEC), DR. ROBERT LESAUVAGE (VAULT-TEC), FLORE HORTON, JAMESON OLSSEN, BENJAMIN MAREK, BART HENDRIX, LYNNETTE SCHINDLER, ZORA GUILLORY, MELISSA VAN ARENDONK, FAUSTINO MACEACHERN

BUSINESS CLASS: JOSH AARON, JANCIS AARON, AMANDA NECCHI, ANNA-LIISA PHILLIPS, CHRISTEN GRIEVE, MADONNA GRIEVE, NICHOLAS VALENTINE, NICOLE HOROWITZ, TYSON ARNTZ, JANET ARNTZ, TYSON ARNTZ JR., ESMÉ REIS, JUAN DONTERNO, OLEG POLZIN, KLAVDIYA POLZIN, EDMONDO CRESPI, COSTANTINO ACQUATI, DANIELA ACQUATI, TEOFILA ACQUATI, JULIA SCORDATO, EVAN BELLINCIONI, DOUG BERINGER, SUSAN GÉROUX, WARNER WHEELER, EVAN JAMESON, SHEL BELLAMY, BRANT MARTEL, FOSTER FOWLER, LOGAN BIRCH, EMMA BIRCH

(ECONOMY SEATING REMOVED TO CREATE STORAGE SPACE)

* * *

The bright fluorescent light of the vault pierced through the gear shaped opening of the vault. Inside the vault security opened fire with their 10mm pistols. The group took cover until security had emptied their clips then used the moment to their advantage. While the guards were reloading the soldiers sprinted into the vault. The guards barely had time to react. Within seconds the soldiers were on in front of them, rifles pointed directly in front of their heads.

"DROP THE PISTOLS. NOW!" shouted Cpl. Wright. The security guard dropped their pistols and put their hands up. He told the guards to line up against the wall. While the guards secured the door chamber the rest of the group took off their rad suits and sent them back to the plane with the sentry bot. Twenty minutes later the second group arrived. After the last passengers (except for Sgt. Encland who had decided to stay by the plane in his rad suit and guard the shipment until the military arrived) had made it to the vault the group that had made the decision to take refuge in the vault gathered. They had become the unofficial leaders of the survivors. Cpl. Wright spoke first.

"The vault has been put into lockdown mode. The elevator has been disabled and the rest of the vault is refusing to contact us. We are stuck here." The other vault-tec scientist, Dr. Lesauvage suggested that they use the override program to reactivate the elevator, but Mike shot him down.

"No. If we force our way into the vault that would create more tension. We are supposed to be getting the vault dwellers to help us and we may have already jeopardised that by forcing our way into the vault and taking some of the security personnel prisoner. If we continue to forcibly take over control we will destroy our chances for cooperation."

"Then what do we do?" asked one of the group. "We can't stay in this cramped entrance hall forever. Pretty soon we will die of disease, starvation, or dehydration." One of the soldiers spoke up.

"Part of the shipment we were guarding includes food rations and medical supplies. If we can transfer it here then we may be able to last until the radiation clears."

"Even with the extra supplies we have no place to sleep and no place to dispose of any waste. The only way we could possibly survive is if we convince the vault dwellers to let us inside."

"We can figure that out later. Right now we need to get those supplies." said Mike. He turned to Cpl. Wright. "Sgt. Enclad may be a problem. He refuses to accept that the government has most likely fallen and most likely will try to stop us from getting the supplies. Will you help us get them?"

"At this point I don't care if the government has fallen or not. My job is to serve the people, and if it means disobeying orders I will do it. I am sure my men will agree." The other soldiers agreed and they went to grab the supplies. Before they left Cpl. Wright borrowed Dr. Hents' pip-boy. As they left the basement Wright called over the sentry bot. When it came over he opened up its utility panel and plugged the pip-boy in.

"What are you doing?" asked Mike.

"I am re-programming the sentry so Sgt. Enclad cannot use it against us." He unplugged the pip-boy and the sentry registered the new commands.

"COMMAND RECEIVED: REMOVE SARGENT JEFFREY ENCLAD FROM AUTHORISED COMMANDING PERSONNEL. TASK SUCCESSFUL. SOLDIER ID:983325 SGT. ENCLAD REMOVED FROM AUTHORISED COMMANDING PERSONNEL." With the robot reprogrammed the group went to confront Enclad.

They arrived at the plane to find Enclad still guarding the cargo hold. Mike and Cpl. Wright walked over to him.

"We are taking any food and medical supplies in the cargo."

"What! I will not allow you to take any more of the supplies!" This made Cpl. Wright angry.

"Look around you! The world we knew is dead! Now we are stuck here in a fiery wasteland with only a slight chance of survival and you are decreasing that chance by cutting us off from supplies that we desperately need because of what- the slight hope that the military will rescue us! I will not let any of us die from your foolishness! We are taking those supplies!" Enclad raised his rifle.

"Cpl. Augustus Wright I am placing you under military arrest for treason. Men cuff him." The rest of the soldiers raised their weapons, but not at Wright. To Enclad's surprise he found himself surrounded by his own men. "You are all traitors! Sentry I order you to kill them!"

"COMMAND DENIED. YOU ARE NOT AUTHORIZED TO COMMAND THIS UNIT."

Enclad saw that he was cornered and lowered his weapon. His voice was filled with anger as he announced that he was leaving. They let him grab his equipment along with some rad-x, radaway, stimpacks, extra ammo, a few MREs, and a extra rad suit.

"You traitors will pay for this." he shouted to them as he disappeared into the wasteland. Mike turned to Wright.

"Now that that's out of the way, let's get those supplies."

* * *

Author's Note: I have changed the location of the plane's departure from Los Angeles to Boston. I did this because there will be a future plot point that it is a important part of. (There is a hint to it in the chapter). I will be adding a few more chapters to this story before going writing in my other story. Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4: Rebellion In the Vault Part 1

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC  
VAULT 287 PERSONNEL  
CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL  
VAULT-TEC CLEARANCE SL-4 REQUIRED  
EMPLOYEE EYES ONLY | VIOLATION VTP-01041

PRIVATE: SCIENCE AND SECURITY STAFF ONLY

WARNING: THIS MEMORANDUM IS MEANT FOR MEMBERS OF THE VAULT 287 SCIENCE DIVISION ONLY, OR THOSE WITH APPROPRIATE SECURITY CLEARANCE LEVELS (SL-4+). ALL OTHERS MUST EXIT THIS TERMINAL IMMEDIATELY AND REPORT YOUR INFRACTION TO THE OVERSEER OR A MEMBER OF VAULT-TEC SECURITY. THANK YOU.

=SOCIAL SCIENCE DIVISION=

AS MENTIONED IN YOUR BRIEFING, THE PURPOSE OF VAULT 287 IS TO STUDY THE EFFECTS OF CONSTANT STRESS, LABOR, AND HARSH PUNISHMENT ON THE HUMAN BODY AND MIND. VAULT RESIDENTS WILL BE FORCED INTO HARD LABOR FOR LONG HOURS WITH NO BREAKS. ANY UNAUTHORIZED BREAK WILL LEAD TO CONSEQUENCES OF PHYSICAL OR MENTAL PUNISHMENT(OVERSEER'S DISCRETION). ANY DISOBEDIENCE WILL BE PUNISHED WITH EXTREME AND CRUEL MEASURES. THIS WILL SERVE AS BOTH A PUNISHMENT AND AN EXAMPLE TO REMAINING DWELLERS. AT THE END OF TWO WORK CYCLES (4 YEARS) ANY ABLE FEMALE RESIDENTS WILL BE FORCED TO BREED THE NEXT GENERATION OF WORKERS WHILE ALL OTHER RESIDENTS WILL BE EVALUATED FOR MENTAL AND PHYSICAL HEALTH. THOSE THAT PASS MENTAL AND PHYSICAL EXAMINATIONS WILL RETURN TO THEIR ASSIGNED DUTIES/ASSIGNMENTS WHILE THOSE THAT FAIL WILL BE TERMINATED. IN EXCEPTION TO THE SCIENCE STAFF, VAULT SECURITY, AND THE OVERSEER. FUTURE STAFF, SECURITY, AND OVERSEERS WILL BE CHOSEN FROM THE OFFSPRING OF SCIENCE, OVERSEER, AND SECURITY STAFF AND TEST SUBJECTS(IF REQUIREMENTS ARE MET). DATA COLLECTED SHALL BE SENT TO VAULT-TEC CONTROL VAULT. RESOURCES PRODUCED FROM THE LABOR OVER THE VAULTS 100 YEAR OPERATIONAL LIFESPAN SHALL BE STORED FOR USE IN GOVERNMENT OPERATION: RESURRECTION.

THANK YOU,  
VAULT-TEC MANAGEMENT

* * *

Cpl. Wright fought his way through the crowded entrance hall to the security room. Inside they had tied up the vault security and had left the two scientists to watch them. When he went inside Dr. Hents called him over.

"I think I have a plan to get us into the vault. Unfortunately it may require some time."

"What is your plan? And why will it take so long?" asked Wright.

Dr. Hents hesitated. Then with a serious and somewhat remorseful voice she spoke.

"The vaults were not actually designed to save the people inside. Most vaults were built with the purpose of experimentation on dwellers. This vault in particular was designed to treat its residents like slaves and then test their bodies' reaction to the abuse for long periods of time. My plan is to wait for a month or two for conditions to become harsh enough then use the vault override program to enable the elevators and allow a group of us to get in. From there we will fight to the overseer's office and take over the master controls. We'll free the residents and if we're lucky they will help us take over the rest of the vault."

"So you want us to let those people suffer in order to make them grateful for us freeing them!" Wright exclaimed angrily. "That's sick! I'd much rather go down there now and free them before they suffer!"

"Look, I know that it's immoral. But it's the best chance we have of getting into the vault" replied Hents. "But if you want to attack sooner at least wait a week or two. It will let the dwellers realize their situation and begin to resent it. If you go now they will simply view us as intruders."

Wright sighed.

"Fine, we'll wait. I am going to go gather anyone who can help with the attack. Keep an eye on the prisoners will you?"

Sara groaned and sat up. She had a pounding headache, her vision was blurry, and her hearing was fuzzy. Around her she could faintly hear the sound of people talking and could make out the figures of people moving around her. Then out of nowhere someone crouched down to her and hugged her. The person released her and she could hear that the person was trying to say something to her. Slowly her senses returned to normal and she saw who was talking to her.

"Dad?" she asked. Her father grinned. She tried to jump up and hug him but just stumbled.

"Easy now" said Mike. "We cleared your body of the radiation but you still may be very weak."

Sara sat back down and leaned up against the wall.

"How did you survive the bomb? How are you even here? Last I checked you were supposed to be at Stanford for school."

"Several of the important professors were called to advise on some government project in D.C. so the school gave the students in those classes a week off. I wanted to surprise you so I didn't tell you I was coming to meet you. When the sirens went off everyone was panicking. I hid in that storage closet and shut the door. I guess the metal door and the concrete walls protected me from the explosion. I remember someone freeing me from the closet but after that everything was foggy. Next thing I know, we're here. Actually, where are we?"

"We're in Vault 287. The plane had some Vault-Tec employees that knew about the vault and were able to get us inside. Now we are waiting here for the radiation outside to clear."

"Captain Johnson!" someone shouted. Mike and Sara looked to see Cpl. Wright walking to them.

"Sara this is Cpl. Wright. He is the one who rescued you."

"You can call me Augustus," Wright said to Sara, shaking her hand.

"Thank you," Sara said to Augustus. "Without you I would probably be dead."

"Don't mention it," He replied before turning to Mike. "Captain, do you have any experience with firearms?"

"I used to hunt when I was a teenager," Mike replied. "Why do you ask?"

"I talked to that Vault-Tec scientist, Dr. Hents. She told me that this vault is some kind of fucked up social experiment."

"What do you mean?"

'"The overseer and the vault staff were ordered to abuse the residents and treat them like slaves. Apparently to study the effects of "extreme stress". That also means that they won't help us. Our only option is to take the vault by force. I'll explain the rest to you later. For now I need to talk to some other people. Sara, I hope you feel better soon."' He got up, leaving Sara and Mike to catch up.

* * *

(Inside Vault 287)

Sixteen year old Jacob Valdez sat alone on his bed. According to his watch it had been six hours and twenty-three minutes since he had entered the vault. The events since then were strange. When he had entered the vault with his family the vault staff and security were very friendly and helpful. But as soon as the vault door was sealed their attitudes changed. They began to separate the new dwellers by gender and age group, yelling and shouting the entire time. They walked his group to a hallway with doors numbered B10-B30 and then shoved them into their rooms. In fact "room" was a generous word. It was basically a glorified prison cell. The only features were a bed, a toilet, a sink, a locker, and a shelf. When he was first put into the room Jacob had tried to open the door and see what was happening, but it was locked and he had been inside ever since

Then out of nowhere his door opened. He looked out into the hall and saw two protectrons with tasers and batons walking down the hall. Behind them was a Mr. Gusty with five arms instead of the usual three. It looked like it was designed as a prison bot, with a taser, a baton, a tranquilizer needle, handcuffs, and a flashlight. The three robots stopped as they reached the first two room. The Mr. Gusty spoke.

"ALRIGHT MAGGOTS, LINE UP IN FRONT OF YOUR CELLS. YOU WILL FOLLOW ME IN AN ORDERLY FASHION. IF YOU DO NOT COMPLY YOU WILL BE PUNISHED. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

Jacob and most of the other boys lined up as they were told. However one boy refused to follow orders.

"You don't have any right to do this! I'm not following your stupid orders!" The Mr. Gusty hovered down to the room and stopped in front the the boy.

"GET IN LINE MAGGOT. THIS IS YOUR ONLY WARNING."

The boy's only response was to spit at the Mr. Gusty.

As soon as he did this the Mr. Gusty sprung into action. With great ferocity the Mr. Gusty began beating the boy with it's baton. Jacob could not see what was happening from where he was, but he could hear the boy yelp, the sound of the baton hitting flesh, the cracking of broken bones. The two protectrons walked to the room and began to beat the boy as well. The beating went on for about five minutes. The Mr. Gusty dragged the boy out, revealing his bloody and beaten body. The Mr. Gusty turned to the rest of them, who were watching in shock.

"ARE THERE ANY OTHER OBJECTIONS? GOOD. NOW MOVE MAGGOTS!"

Jacob started walking. When he looked back he saw that the injured boy being roughly dragged away by vault security.

"What did we do to deserve this?" he thought to himself.

The robots marched them back through the atrium and had them line up in front of a door. One by one they entered the room, but none of them came out . Soon it was Jacob's turn. Inside were two security guards and a man in a lab coat. They forced him to strip to his underwear for a medical exam. Still in his underwear, they began to move him to the next room.

"Wait I want my watch! It was a family heirloom! Please!" The guards looked at each other. One of them walked over to the clothes bin and grabbed the watch. The guard studied it for a moment then looked at Jacob.

"You know, this is a nice watch. I think I will keep it for myself." Jacob tried to protest but the guard punched him in the eye.

"Move it worm!"

Jacob scrambled to the next room. There were more guards and doctors there. They forced him to sit down in a strange machine and strapped him down. The machine had several arms, with what looked to be surgical devices attached. Jacob got even more nervous when he noticed that there was blood on the floor surrounding the device.

The machine whirred to life. At first all the machine did was shave his head. But then things turned from bad to worse. A scalpel began to cut a chunk of flesh off of his arm, all the way down to the bone. Jacob screamed in pain but couldn't do anything. Before he started to bleed out the machine inserted some kind of device in the newly opened wound. The machine connected the open blood vessels to tubes, nerves to wires, muscles to gears and pistons.

A doctor walked over and injected a strange fluid into the open area then wrapped it with a bandage. After a couple of seconds Jacob could move his hand again. The guards unstrapped him and pushed him into the next room. In the room there were the usual guards and a vault tec science staff sitting at a desk. Jacob moved to the desk. The person at the desk looked up at him then began to type into the terminal.

"Your new designation is Worker 228. Take a vault suit. Once you are finished move to the next room and wait for orientation."

Taking the suit, Jacob moved on to the next room ,which seemed to be a small auditorium with a raised stage in the front. Inside were others who had been in line before him. Each with similar wounds on their arms from the implant and some looked like they'd been beaten. Most were sitting in silence or talking quietly in small groups. Every couple of minutes another person would come through the door.

After about three hours everyone had been processed. They were all milling around waiting for something to happen when a door on the stage opened and a man wearing a mix between a lab coat and security armor walked in. The room went quiet as the man spoke.

"I am Overseer Harding. I am in charge of security and the science staff here in Vault 287. Let me make one thing clear, you belong to Vault-Tec now. We will use you until your usefulness runs out and when it does we will kill you. If you disobey, you will be punished. If you slack off, you will be punished. If you try to fight back, you will be punished."

There was some angry murmuring from the group.

"I am aware that some of you want to fight. Let me show you what will happen if you do. You probably remember that several hours ago a member of your group tried to refuse orders. Let me show you how we deal with rebellious workers." He turned to the door that he came from.

"Robobrain unit 1A, move forward." A strange robot with what looked to be a human brain came from the door.

"This is what happens to disobedient workers. We have removed his brain and placed it inside this robot. He is still in there, but is being forced to obey orders."

The robot moved next to Harding. "READY TO RECEIVE COMMANDS"

"Lock joints. Deactivate personality suppression." The robobrain tensed. It began to speak in a frantic, panicked tone.

"Where am I? Why can't I feel my body? Why is everything so cold? Somebody help me!"

Harding grinned sadistically at the looks of horror on the faces of the boys. He reactivated the personality suppression and turned to the group.

"Now, you may be wondering about the implants we placed into your arms. When you return to your cells you will find a Pip-Boy 3500. This Pip-Boy plugs directly into the implants we put in you earlier will allow us to monitor your location, vitals, and will also serve as a way of administering punishment. Anyone seen without a Pip-Boy will be punished harshly. Any objections?"

There was no response.

"Good. Your group will be digging a new tunnel to a large pocket of Uranium ore. Your supervisor will give you further details tomorrow. You are dismissed to your cells."

* * *

(Two Weeks Later)

Jacob swung his pickaxe at a large boulder, breaking it into small chunks. While two of his group mates loaded the pieces into a minecart Jacob leaned back, trying to catch his breath. It had been two weeks since they'd entered the vault. Two weeks since they had been forced into slavery. In those two weeks they had lost five of their group from overwork, exhaustion, and suicide. Ten more had been tortured for not working hard enough. At first some of the group, including Jacob, had thought about rebellion. But plans of rebellion ceased to progress once the supervisor heard two boys discussing it. The next day they were nowhere to be found, but two more robobrains appeared. To add to the stress Jacob had no idea what had happened to the rest of his family. However, the thought of resisting was still fresh in his mind.

His thoughts were interrupted by a sharp searing pain coming from his implant. He looked up and saw his work supervisor, the same guard who had taken his watch, looking at him while pressing a button on his Pip-Boy. Jacob quickly hurried back to work.

* * *

(In the Vault Door Chamber)

The refugees from flight 251 were on the verge of snapping. Many people were starting to become sick, the crowded space and only one bathroom did not help. The apprehension was only made worse when Cpl. Wright announced that they have to take the vault by force, but the announcement also seemed to give the survivors hope. One by one people volunteered to help Cpl. Wright and his men breach the main vault. In total there were twenty seven people who would directly assault the vault.

Because the vault was built as a work camp/production facility the elevator was built to carry cargo. Because of the large space cover could be built on it to protect the group until they reached the actual plan was for Dr. Hents to reactivate the elevators and the group to enter the atrium. Once the atrium was cleared they would split up into groups of three and begin clearing the vault along with freeing any dwellers they found along the way. Cpl. Wright would lead the group to take the overseer's office. It was important that the office was cleared quickly since the overseer had a master control terminal with control over all of the vault's systems.

The next day the group was geared up with the armor and weapons taken from the plane and were ready to go. They were outnumbered by vault security and even with their military grade gear they knew that there was a high chance that they would die. After saying goodbye to their loved ones the group headed into the elevator.

Cpl. Wright signaled to Dr. Hents to activate the elevator. The group crouched behind the makeshift cover they had put up, their rifles ready. When the elevator was about halfway down, alarms in the vault began to blare. They reached the ground and as soon as the doors opened, vault security began to fire. For a couple of minutes the group exchanged fire, but each time one of the vault security guards was killed another guard came running into the atrium. The stalemate ended when one of the soldiers grabbed a grenade and threw it at the guards, killing them and knocking down one of the support beams. The atrium ceiling groaned as it collapsed. Several tons of concrete and metal fell to the ground, burying any remaining guards along with half the atrium.

When the dust settled and the group took a moment to recover they began to split up into their individual groups. Cpl. Wright looked at a map on a pip-boy he had grabbed then cursed. The part of the atrium that collapsed had buried the hallway leading to the staff wing. Wright called over the other two members of his group, a civilian named Logan Birch and a CPD Detective named Nick Valentine.

"There's a change of plans. Our way to the overseer's office is blocked. We're going to have to take a longer route down the north hallway, turn right through the mess hall, through cell block B then cut through the main reactor room. That should take us past the harvesting room, whatever that is, then lead us to the staff section. From there we will have to fight our way through to the overseer's office, which will be on the opposite side of the section."

"Let's get a move on then" said Valentine before they started down the hallway.

Jacob was in the mess hall eating his dinner rations when the alarms began to ring. At first everyone presumed that it was a drill for the security staff and nobody moved. A few minutes later there was the sound of a explosion and something extremely heavy falling to the ground. A moment later an announcement came over the PA system.

"Attention all security staff. This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill. Armed intruders have breached the vault. All non-essential security report to the atrium. I repeat, all security is required to report to the atrium."

The guards in the mess hall ran out, leaving only the supervisor to guard the dwellers. Jacob noticed that the supervisor was looking down the hallway with his back to them.

Without thinking, Jacob grabbed a table knife and ran to the supervisor. He stabbed the supervisor in the back of the neck, killing him instantly. For a second the room went silent. Then the room was filled with cheering. The other boys began to prepare for a fight- barricading the doors and arming themselves with table knives and metal clubs made from pieces of tables. Meanwhile Jacob searched the supervisor's body, taking his 10mm, his armor, his pip-boy, his clearance card, and as well as his own watch. Using the pip-boy he disarmed all anti-revolt fail safes in his group's implants then transferred all programs and authorizations to his Pip-implant then shot the other Pip-Boy for good measure. He had just finished putting on the armor when he heard some footsteps down the hall. He quickly warned the others to get ready.

"The guards are coming back!" he shouted. He took out the 10mm and aimed down the hallway. Three men were running towards them, but they did not look like they were from the vault. They were equipped with military armor and weapons. Then one of them raised their rifle and was about to shoot when one of the others stopped him. Jacob cautiously lowered the 10mm and let the strangers approach. One of the men asked him a question.

"You don't look like vault security. Who are you?" When Jacob saw that they were not going to hurt him he began to talk more openly.

"My name is Jacob Valdez. I am one of the residents of the vault. Listen, I don't know who you are but you have to help us. The staff, they've been treating us like slaves. We've been separated from our families and are being forced to work all day without end. Now that I killed our supervisor my whole group is going to be tortured and they are going to harvest my brain to put into one of those robots!"

"They're making robobrains down here? It's worse then I thought." Wright turned to the other two. "We have to hurry. If we don't take out the overseer who knows what else he would do." He then turned back to Jacob. "Listen, kid. We're trying to get to the overseer's office and take control of the vault. Will you and your group be able to handle yourselves?" Jacob nodded.

"In fact I can do you one better. I transferred my supervisor's clearance and access codes onto my Pip-Boy. If I come with you I may be able to help you get past security."

"That's too dangerous. How about I trade you my Pip-Boy for yours?"

"I can't."

Wright began to become annoyed.

"Kid, we need that Pip-Boy in order to save all of you. Is it really that important that you keep that particular Pip-Boy?"

"No it's not that I don't want to give you my Pip-Boy, I would if I could. But I physically cannot. The vault staff cybernetically attached it to my arm."

"Oh, I didn't know. Sorry kid. I guess that means that you have to come with us. You know how to fire a gun right?"

Jacob nodded. Wright then instructed the rest of the boys in the room to go to the atrium and take armor and guns off of the dead guards. Then Wright, Jacob, Nick, and Logan continued to head on to the overseer's office.

* * *

(Meanwhile, out in the wasteland)

"This is Sgt. Jeff Encland to any remaining military personnel. My squadron has deserted and are in possession of stolen military property. I only have about a week's worth of radiation medicine and my hazmat suit is starting to become worn. I need an extraction soon or I will not last much longer. My coordinates are 42°02'59.8"N 87°55'12.2"W. Setting this to repeat."

Sargent Encland crouched inside the ruins of a half buried Super Duper Mart. For the past two weeks he had been using his ham radio to try and make contact with the government. So far he hasn't been successful and was starting to think that Cpl. Wright had been correct. He leaned back against the ruined wall and sighed, but then his radio switched to static. A voice faintly came through. Encland scrambled over and tuned the radio and the voice became clearer.

"This is federal surveillance center P-01A to Sgt. Encland, do you copy? I repeat, this is federal surveillance center P-01A to Sgt. Encland, do you copy?"

"Sgt. Encland to FSC P-01A, I read you."

"Sgt. Encland, we have new orders for you from General Caulfield. Move to coordinates 42°03'04.8"N 87°54'26.5"W then radio in for new orders. FSC P-01A signing off".


	5. Chapter 5: Rebellion in the Vault Part 2

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC  
VAULT 287 PERSONNEL  
CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL  
VAULT-TEC CLEARANCE SL-4 REQUIRED  
EMPLOYEE EYES ONLY | VIOLATION VTP-01041

PRIVATE: VAULT 287 STAFF

WARNING: THIS MEMORANDUM IS MEANT FOR MEMBERS OF THE VAULT 287 STAFF ONLY, OR THOSE WITH APPROPRIATE SECURITY CLEARANCE LEVELS (SL-4+). ALL OTHERS MUST EXIT THIS TERMINAL IMMEDIATELY AND REPORT YOUR INFRACTION TO THE OVERSEER OR A MEMBER OF VAULT-TEC SECURITY. THANK YOU.

CELL BLOCK LISTINGS

NURSERY: POP. 50

INFANTS AGE 0-4

ASSIGNMENT: NONE

CELL BLOCK A: POP. 100

1A: BOYS AGE 4-6

2A: GIRLS AGE 4-6

1B: BOYS AGE 6-16

2B: GIRLS AGE 6-16

ASSIGNMENT: SCHOOLING

CELL BLOCK B: POP. 80

1: MALES AGE 16-18

ASSIGNMENT: URANIUM MINE

2: FEMALES AGE 16-18

ASSIGNMENT: URANIUM ENRICHMENT

CELL BLOCK C: POP. 200

1A: MALES AGE 18-24

2A: FEMALES AGE 18-24

ASSIGNMENT: ORE MINE, ORE SORTING, ORE REFINEMENT

1B: MALES AGE 24-30

2B: FEMALES AGE 24-30

ASSIGNMENT: METALWORKS

1C: MALES AGE 30-40

2C: FEMALES AGE 30-40

ASSIGNMENT: PLASTIC PRODUCTION, MISCELLANEOUS FACTORIES

CELL BLOCK D: POP. 160

1A: MALES AGE 40-50

2A: FEMALES AGE 40-50

ASSIGNMENT: MEDICINE PRODUCTION, ARMS AND AMMO PRODUCTION

1B: MALES AGE 50-60

2B: FEMALES AGE 50-60

ASSIGNMENT: HYDROPONICS/GARDEN, VAULT MAINTENANCE

1C: MALES AGE 60-70

2C: FEMALES AGE 60-70

ASSIGNMENT: MISCELLANEOUS

CELL BLOCK E: POP. 50

ELDERLY AGE 70 AND UP

ASSIGNMENT: MISCELLANEOUS OR TERMINATION

* * *

Nick Valentine was running down the hall behind the others when the bullet hit him. He yelled out and fell to the floor, his vision blurry. He could see the others shooting at some guards.

 _Well this is just great_ , he thought to himself. The past month had been rough for him. His fiancee had been murdered, the case on her murderer Eddie Winter had been dropped despite all the evidence against him, Nick had been forced to have his brain scanned at CIT, and was told to leave Boston and return to Chicago. Then the bombs dropped, they hid in this vault, and he got shot in the arm. The shooting stopped and Nick felt the prick of a stimpack. His vision began to clear and he saw his other group member Logan helping him.

"Thanks," he groaned.

"Can you keep moving?" asked Logan. Nick nodded and got to his feet. Cpl. Wright and Jacob ran over to them.

"We cleared the next hallway of guards," said Wright. "According to the map we have to cut through the ironworks then head through the reactor rooms."

"We have to be careful in the ironworks," said Jacob. "I had to pass through there to get to the uranium mine and I think they have a few suits of construction power armor. If the guards use them it will be a hard fight."

"It seems that we don't have much of a choice," said Wright.

After traversing several hallways, fighting guards, and freeing dwellers they finally made it to the ironworks. Silently the group crept into the massive room. The ironworks was very large, about the size of three football fields. Sweltering molten metal vats, giant smelteries, and massive forges filled the cavernous space. There was also a control room that acted as a central computer mainframe for the many machines, conveyors, doors, and robots that transported the processed iron to different factory sections of the vault. The dwellers assigned to the ironworks were still working despite the security breach in the vault. There was also a large amount of security guards and robots keeping the dwellers working. It also looked like there were little to nothing safety precautions for the workers. The group watched in horror as a very beaten and downtrodden looking worker tripped on a large iron ingot and fell onto a conveyor belt transporting red hot steel bars into the vault's fabrication room. The unfortunate dweller landed directly on top of one of the giant bars, screaming as his flesh roasted on the metal. A few of his fellow dwellers looked up with pity and a few moved to help but a quick glare from the guards quickly made them go back to work. The burned dweller managed to roll off of the conveyor and onto the floor, writhing in agony. A few seconds later a robot came in and roughly dragged the dweller away from the ironworks.

Cpl. Wright turned and saw that the others were looking on with the same expression of shock and disgust. Quickly putting what he had witnessed out of his mind Wright tried to formulate a plan for getting across the ironworks. The door that they had to get to was on the other side of the ironworks, but in their way were about fifty guards, a small army of construction robots, and about a hundred dwellers. Wright also saw that Jacob was correct about the power armored guards. There were about ten of them spread out around the room with an additional two empty power armor suits in a cage about ten feet away from them. Telling the others to wait Wright crept over to the power armor cages and tried to open the door only to find them locked. He tried several times to pick the lock only to fail. He was about to give up when Nick snuck over and told him to move over. Nick picked the lock and Wright motioned for the others to move to him.

"Alright here's the plan," Wright whispered. "Since I am the only one that has power armor training I will take a suit. Jacob take off that guard armor and put those handcuffs on. You will come with me and act like you were an escapee who I had caught. I will escort you to that control room on the other side of the ironworks. Use the authorization codes on your Pip-Boy to try and take control of the system. Nick and Logan, when you hear the machines stop working that is you que to run for the door. It should be the one right in the middle of the room. If you can avoid the guards in power armor, but if you have to shoot aim for the fusion cores directly on their backs. Me and Jacob will meet you at the door."

Wright quietly got into one of the power armor suits. Although he was not assigned to a power armor unit he still had the basic training and knew how to operate one. He grabbed Jacob and began walking him towards the control room. Although there were a few suspicious glances the first part of the plan went off without a hitch. They reached the room and entered. The foreman of the ironworks saw them enter and got up.

"What are you doing? Why are you bringing this dweller in here?"

"I caught him in the hall outside the ironworks," Wright responded. "I think he was one of the dwellers the intruders freed."

"Why did you bring him into the control room? You should know that is against security protocol." The foreman narrowed his eyes. "Wait, you're not Vault staff!" The foreman turned to sound the alarm but was stopped with a quick punch from Wright's power armored fist. Jacob quickly ran over to the council and attempted to unlock it with the authorization codes on his Pip-Boy.

"I'm in," he said.

"Good. Let me take control of the terminal."

Jacob moved aside and Wright took over. The terminal was hooked up to all of the ironworks systems. Wright set the security turrets and the robot targeting systems to be hostile to the guards and shut down the auto- forges and smelteries. The ironworks went quiet as the machines stopped. The dwellers and guards looked around, confused. The silence was broken by the sound of robots and turrets reactivating and attacking. Within minutes all of the guards in the ironworks had been torn apart by the security systems. Wright activated the ironworks PA system and informed the dwellers what was going on. Cheering broke out and soon the dwellers began equipping themselves to fight back. Meanwhile Wright and Jacob met up with Nick and Logan at the door.

"Nice work with those turrets," Nick said as Wright and Jacob approached. Wright grinned.

"Thanks but we don't have time to celebrate. We have to keep moving. All we have left is the reactor room. From there it should be a straight shot to the overseer's office."

* * *

(Inside the Overseer's office)

Overseer Harding sat at his desk, deep in thought. All over the vault there was total chaos as the intruders freed dwellers and fought his security guards. When the intruders had first breached the vault Harding had ordered security to try and injure, not kill. He did not want to risk losing the vault's labor force or destroy the experiment. However as the situation got more and more dire he began to reconsider. Next to him was a vault intercom, where he was constantly getting reports of more freed dwellers and requests for backup. Suddenly his chief of security ran in.

"Overseer, I have something to report. One of the head supervisors is not checking in. If the intruders or any of the freed dwellers killed him and got his Pip-Boy they could have the door unlock codes for the staff wing. If they manage to get into the main control room there is no telling what damage they could do. I advise that we initiate security protocol VTC-66."

Harding sighed. He activated his terminal and began to initiate the order.

* * *

The hallway that Jacob, Nick, Wright, and Logan were running down suddenly dimmed as the main lights were replaced by a red emergency light. A robotic voice spoke over the intercom:

"ATTENTION VAULT 287 STAFF AND RESIDENTS. VAULT-TEC CONTINGENCY ORDER VTC-66 HAS BEEN ACTIVATED. ALL STAFF AND RESIDENTS ARE REQUIRED TO REPORT TO THEIR ASSIGNED WORK AREAS OR RESIDENCES IMMEDIATELY. ANYONE NOT IN THEIR ASSIGNED LOCATION WILL BE TERMINATED."

As soon as the announcement ended there was the sound of doors opening and machines activating. In the ceiling above them a turret popped out of a hidden hatch and opened fire. Before they could even react Logan was hit in the arm and leg and would have been killed if not for a lucky shot by Nick.

After patching up Logan they began to once again move through the halls, destroying any turret and robot. They finally reached the large hallway that led to the reactor chamber but as they were about to run in Cpl. Wright stopped them.

"Wait, do you hear that?" he asked. He motioned for the others to stay back and silently crept up to the doorway. In the next hallway he could hear the rumbling of treads moving across the ground. Peeking inside he saw a sentry bot guarding the entrance to the reactor chamber. Silently cursing he moved away from the door.

"What is it?" Jacob asked him.

"It's a sentry bot, military grade. There is no way we can take something like that down with what we have. The only chance we would have is if we were somehow able to remove its fusion core."

"Any idea how we could do that?" asked Nick.

"Unless you can somehow turn invisible or could fire a bullet through an inch of steel armor, no."

"When I was in Boston I was visiting my brother stationed at Fort Strong," said Logan. "While visiting the base I noticed that the sentry robots there seem to shut down every few minutes and release a lot of steam. They seemed to open up their armor and expose their inners. Could we use that to our advantage?"

"That is the sentry entering it's cooldown mode. It's fusion cores are exposed but they are extremely hot. It would be impossible for us to remove without getting extremely burnt," replied Wright.

"Why don't we just shoot the cores while they are exposed?," Logan asked.

"The explosion would not be contained by the armor of the sentry. Exploding those cores would be like firing a mini nuke. We would collapse our only way into the staff section."

As they were figuring out a plan the group had not noticed that the sentry had begun to patrol the hallway. It rolled by the door and instantly spotted them.

"ALERT: HOSTILE DETECTED. LETHAL FORCE AUTHORIZED FOR ALL UNITS."

The sentry opened fire as the group scrambled for cover behind several robots that they had killed. Several times Wright, Nick, and Logan attempted to shoot the sentry bot to no avail. The sentry bot began to move down the hall towards them. As it was moving the sentry stopped and entered it's cooldown mode. Using the temporary break in fire, Jacob ran past the sentry bot and into the reactor room. Nick and Logan quickly followed with Wright covering them from the rear. Nick jammed the door control panel just as the sentry bot reactivated and charged. After taking a second to catch their breath they began to check if the reactor room was secure.

The reactor room was actually a series of compartmentalized chambers all surrounding a single giant chamber. Each of the smaller chambers had a vault-tec super reactor inside while the large chamber had a giant experimental super reactor. The hallway they had entered from led directly into the large reactor chamber, and their exit was through the reactor control room. Aside from a few maintenance robots that ignored them and some sentry turrets there was no one else in the room. It seemed strange, but they were grateful to have the chance to catch their breath. Their break did not last long however when the door they had entered from blew open. The sentry bot rolled into the reactor room, guns blazing. Out of instinct Jacob raised his pistol and fired at the sentry. The bullet missed and hit the wall behind the sentry, but ricocheted back and somehow hit the sentry's combat inhibitor. The frenzied robot began to shooting at everything. The sentry turned and fired a missile at the wall directly behind it. The explosion damaged the sentry enough for it to begin it's self destruct proticle. The Nick, Logan, Jacob, and Wright ran into the nearby control room as the sentry exploded, causing a large portion of the roof to break off. The relief of the sentry's destruction was cut off by an alarm going off on the control console.

"WARNING REACTOR DAMAGE DETECTED," said a computerized voice. "CORE TEMPERATURE RISING. WARNING: LIKELIHOOD OF REACTOR MELTDOWN: 70%. REACTOR VENTING RECOMMENDED."

Nick rushed over to the console. After a quick visual scan he found a button labeled "reactor vent" and pressed it.

"ERROR IN REACTOR VENT SYSTEMS. VENT 4 SEALANT RELEASE MECHANISMS NOT RESPONDING. MANUAL RELEASE REQUIRED. CAUTION: RADIATION IN REACTOR ROOM ABOVE HUMAN SURVIVABILITY. WARNING: LIKELIHOOD OF REACTOR MELTDOWN: 85%" Nick turned to the others.

"You three go ahead. I will go in and clear the vents."

"If you go in there the radiation will kill you!," exclaimed Wright.

"And if I don't go in there everyone in this vault will die! Go, get control of the overseer's office."

Logan and Jacob ran out of the room, but Wright did not move. He was about to argue again but was cut off by the computer.

"WARNING: LIKELIHOOD OF REACTOR MELTDOWN 95%. MELTDOWN IMMINENT."

Wright gave Nick a sad look and ran out of the room. Nick made sure the external door was sealed before entering the reactor room. He could feel the heat coming off of the reactor. He quickly found out that vent 4's pressure valve had been fused shut by a combination of the sentry explosion and the intense heat coming off of the nuclear reactor. As Nick looked around for anything that would break the valve he began to feel the effects of the radiation. He noticed that there was a super-sledge leaning on a tool cabinet nearby. Grabbing the sledge he began to swing at the valve, the radiation weakening him as he hit. Finally the valve broke off releasing a high pressure torrent of hot radioactive air into the room, but also cooling the reactor core. Nick fell on the floor, finally succumbing to the radiation. As he lost consciousness he heard the vault computer.

"REACTOR CORE COOLING. LIKELIHOOD OF MELTDOWN 80% AND DROPPING. AUTOMATIC REACTOR SHUTDOWN WILL COMMENCE WHEN REACTOR HAS RETURNED TO NORMAL FUNCTION."

* * *

Wright ran out of the reactor control room and into the hallway where Jacob and Logan had just finished dealing with the guards. The overseer's office had a back door just off of the reactor hallway. Only two guards had been stationed outside. _The overseer did not think that anyone would be able to get this far. He got cocky._ Logan looked at Wright.

"Where's Nick?," he asked.

"He sacrificed himself to give us a chance. Let's not waste it. Jacob, your Pip-Boy has the password to the overseer's office. Get us inside."

Jacob nodded and plugged into the door. Logan and Wright readied their weapons and as soon as the door opened they ran inside.

Overseer Harding was writing a terminal message to Vault-tec corporate in Vault Alpha when his office was breached. Two men ran into his office, guns raised. They were followed by a boy in vault security armor who Harding remembered from one of dweller orientations. He tried to press the panic button on his desk but as he reached he felt the cold steel of a gun barrel pressed on the back of his head.

"Touch that and you die," said the man with the gun. "Put your hands on your head. Get up and turn around, slowly. Logan, check to see if he has any weapons." The other man took his 10mm and his Pip-Boy. "Jacob, use those handcuffs on your belt and restrain him. Lock the doors and be ready for a fight." Logan and Jacob grabbed him and took him to the bathroom, handcuffing him to a pipe on the wall. The kid, Jacob, left the room but Logan stayed behind. Harding hung his head in defeat. He had failed Vault-Tec.


	6. Chapter 6: Rebellion in the Vault Part 3

VAULT TEC SCIENCE DIVISION INTERNAL MESSAGE BOARD

PROPERTY OF VAULT-TEC  
DOCTOR LIAM HARDING  
CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL  
VAULT-TEC CLEARANCE SL-4 REQUIRED  
EMPLOYEE EYES ONLY | VIOLATION VTP-01041

PRIVATE: SCIENCE STAFF ONLY

WARNING: THIS MESSAGE IS MEANT ONLY FOR DOCTOR HARDING, OR THOSE WITH APPROPRIATE SECURITY CLEARANCE LEVELS (SL-4+). ALL OTHERS MUST EXIT THIS TERMINAL IMMEDIATELY AND REPORT YOUR INFRACTION TO THE OVERSEER OR A MEMBER OF VAULT-TEC SECURITY. THANK YOU.

FROM: DOCTOR STANISLAUS BRAUN

TO: DOCTOR LIAM HARDING, DOCTOR ADRIAN MOORE

RE: MODIFIED ROBOBRAINS

DATE RECEIVED: JULY 3, 2077

DR. HARDING,

I HAVE LOOKED OVER YOUR PROPOSITION TO ADD HORMONE AND CHEMICAL INJECTORS ON THE ROBOBRAIN CHASSIS TO ALLOW THE BRAIN TO CONTINUE TO FEEL FULL EMOTIONAL STIMULUS AND COMPLETELY APPROVE OF YOUR IDEA. GENERAL ATOMICS WILL BE SENDING THE SCHEMATICS FOR THE MODIFIED ROBOBRAINS TO VAULT 287 SOON. I EXPECT THAT IT WILL ARRIVE SOMETIME IN THE NEXT MONTH. THE COMPONENTS WILL HAVE TO BE ASSEMBLED ON SITE BUT WITH VAULT 287'S ROBOTICS FACTORY THAT WILL NOT BE AN ISSUE. THE CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS NEEDED HAVE BEEN ORDERED FROM HALLUCIGEN INC. ALONG WITH PROTOTYPE AUTOMATED CHEMISTRY STATIONS FROM BIG MT. I ALSO WISH TO INFORM YOU THAT YOU HAVE BEEN PROMOTED FROM VAULT 287'S HEAD SCIENTIST TO OVERSEER. DR. MOORE WILL BE TAKING YOUR PLACE AS HEAD SCIENTIST. COME MEET ME AT VAULT-TEC'S WASHINGTON D.C. HEADQUARTERS IMMEDIATELY TO DISCUSS THIS FURTHER.

SINCERELY,

DOCTOR STANISLAUS BRAUN

VAULT-TEC SPP DIRECTOR

* * *

(Inside Vault 287 Overseer's Office)

Jacob walked up to Cpl. Wright, who was busy working on reprogramming the vault's systems.

"Mr. Birch is keeping an eye on the overseer. Is there anything you need me to do sir?"

"Make sure the room is secure," replied Wright. Jacob began looking around the office for any security systems or traps that he could find. As he was looking around he found a locked door hidden behind a large blueprint of the vault. He unlocked it with one of the keys he had taken from the overseer and entered.

As soon as he activated the room's light a robobrain rolled up to him.

"COMMENCING FACIAL SCAN… SCAN COMPLETE. YOU ARE NOT AUTHORIZED TO ENTER THE DATA STORAGE. YOU ARE AN INTRUDER. YOU WILL BE ELIMINATED."

The robobrain began to fire its mesmetron beams at Jacob, who quickly jumped out of the way. Jacob ducked for cover behind a mainframe tower and pulled out his pistol. He tried to fire at the robobrain but was met with the clicking of a empty gun. He barely had time to duck as the robobrain swung at him with its claws. As Jacob ducked he accidentaly hit his Pip-Boy against the mainframe. For a moment time seemed to slow down and he could see all the strategic weaknesses on the robobrain. It was almost like his Pip-Boy was helping him fight. Using his pistol as a club he jumped at the robot and aimed for the its combat inhibitor. He hit the inhibitor with unnatural precision. The robobrain stopped attacking and seemed confused. As he hit the ground Jacob's perception of time returned to normal. As he was getting up the robobrain turned and rolled towards him. He raised his pistol to defend himself but then the robobrain spoke. The voice that came out was not robotic and cold, but instead sounded like a scared teenage girl.

"You... you freed me. I was trapped for so long, tortured by that man, the overseer. How did you do it?"

Jacob looked at the robobrain with confusion.

"What are you talking about? You attacked me."

The robot's eye looked downwards. If it could express emotion Jacob would have guessed that it was guilt.

"I couldn't control myself. It was like something was forcing itself on me, pushing me to the back of my own head. The entire time I watched myself attack you, trying to stop myself. I'm sorry."

Jacob cautiously lowered the pistol.

"Who are you? Why did they turn you into this?," he asked, gesturing to its robot form.

"My name is Emily, Emily Trengrove. The group of girls I was in were put to work in the uranium enrichment facility. The last thing I remember was that I had stopped to help another girl who had fainted. I felt a burning from my implant and the next thing I know I am here. For days I just sat here, unable to talk or move. When you entered I thought I had finally gone mad. Then I started moving on my own and well, you know what happened after that. I don't even know what they did to me. Why am I so cold? Why can't I feel my arms or legs? Why does everything look weird? What happened to me?"

Jacob looked at Emily with pity.

"It would be easier for me to just show you. Follow me."

He walked into the bathroom and led her to the mirror. When Logan saw her he began to reach for his gun but Jacob motioned for him to stop. Overseer Harding just began to grin with an evil look on his face. As soon as Emily saw her reflection she froze. Slowly she raised her robotic limbs and waved it in front of the mirror to check if it was actually her reflection.

"What… what am I?" As she spoke her voice began to become shaky. Jacob and Logan looked at her with pity, but Harding just began to laugh at her obvious shock.

"No… no… this isn't real. Im dreaming, I have to be. This can't be real…"

"Emily…," Jacob said as he slowly approached her. Before he could say anything to comfort her she turned around and quickly rolled out of the room. Jacob's emotions quickly turned from pity to anger as he heard Harding laughing.

"I knew it was a good idea to modify the robobrain and keep the brain with full emotions. Their reactions always... amuse me."

At this Jacob snapped. He turned around and began beating Harding with the security baton from his armor. He only stopped when Logan stepped in and pulled him off.

"That's enough kid! We need him alive!" Jacob glared down at Harding's now unconscious and bloodied face.

"I am going to go see if Emily is alright." Suddenly Wright shouted for them to come help him. They ran into the control room and found Wright at the terminal.

"I am almost done reprogramming the vault system but we are running out of time. Vault security is starting to cut through the door." He pointed to a monitor displaying security footage of the surrounding hallways. Outside the doors to the overseer's office several guards wearing riot armor stood ready to charge in. One of the guards was using a plasma caster on the door locks. The lock was strong but the plasma was slowly cutting through.

"I am almost done reprogramming the vault systems but I need more time. See if you can hold back the guards for a little while longer."

Logan and Jacob walked out of the office and into the main chamber. They locked the door and flipped a metal table to use as cover. The steel in the outer door was glowing red hot, and it was clear that it would fail soon. The lock finally broke and the door slid open. Logan and Jacob were pinned down by a flurry of bullets as the guards opened fire with their riot shotguns. The guards began to inch towards the metal table that they were using for cover. Logan attempted to blindfire but a guard quickly shot both the gun and his hand away. He yelled out in pain and fell to the floor, clutching his mangled hand. The guards stopped firing and began moving towards the door to the main office. One guard went to finish Logan off and Jacob prepared for the end. If he was to die at least he could try and take one of them with him. Just as the guard was about to pull the trigger he was hit by a blast of energy. Surprised, Jacob looked to see Emily emerge from inside a closet where she had been hiding. The other guards turned around in surprise. Using the distraction Jacob jumped up and tackled the guard with the plasma caster. The guard easily pushed him off and reached for a combat knife on his belt. Jacob grabbed the thing nearest to him, which happened to be the plasma caster that the guard had dropped when Jacob tackled him. He pulled the trigger releasing a stream of hot plasma onto the guard, melting him into a pile of green goo. The other guards had focused their attention on Emily, but luckily her robobrain body was more resilient enough to take several shotgun blasts. Emily fought back with surprising skill, taking down a guard with her mesmetron blast and knocking out another with her metal arms. Jacob quickly got to his feet and opened fire with his new plasma caster. Despite the surprise the guards quickly regained the advantage, disabling Emily with a pulse grenade and pinning Jacob back behind the table. Suddenly two disabled auto-turrets on the roof activated and began firing on the guards. In a matter of seconds all the guards had been cut down. The office door opened and Wright stepped out with a triumphant look on his face.

"We did it! The Vault is now under our control!"

His expression fell when he saw Jacob attempting provide first aid on Logan. Quickly running over to Logan he saw that he was bleeding heavily and was beginning to look pale. Moving Jacob aside Wright began to make a tourniquet and applying pressure to the bloody stump. While he worked Jacob went to check on Emily.

As he approached her it quickly became apparent that something was wrong. Emily's robobrain body was completely fried and beyond repair. All her systems had been broken and she was completely unresponsive. Jacob began to panic, fearing the worst. Cpl. Wright, who had just finished bandaging an unconscious Logan, noticed and walked over.

"What's wrong kid?"

"They killed her! She had just been freed and they killed her!"

"Wait that robobrain is a person?", he asked in surprise. Jacob nodded and explained what had happened.

He looked closer at Emily's brain chassis. It appeared to not have suffered any damage.

"Her brain is still intact. We can put it on a new body and she will be good as new. Now come on, let's announce our victory to the vault."


End file.
